Daily WHUFC News - 6th May 2018

Hammers secure three huge points with terrific Leicester performance
WHUFC.com

Goals from Joao Mario and Mark Noble helped West Ham United take a giant
step towards securing their Premier League safety as they were 2-0 winners
at Leicester City in the Premier League. Joao Mario's tapped home a Marko
Arnautovic cross to give the Hammers the lead in a first half they
dominated, before the skipper lashed in a stunning 25-yard volley in the
second period to seal all three points. David Moyes' men looked a constant
danger throughout the clash, however, and went close on a number of
occasions through Manuel Lanzini and top scorer Arnautovic. It's fair to say
the Hammers controlled the opening half and they broke forward to create
their first opportunity in just six minutes. A ball was fed through to
Manuel Lanzini inside the penalty area, and after his shot was blocked, it
broke to Pablo Zabaleta who could not pick out a claret shirt. Five minutes
later - another chance - and it was Argentine Lanzini causing trouble again.
Beating a Leicester defender on the edge of the box, the No10 struck
goalwards, but his shot on target rebounded off Marko Arnautovic and rolled
out for a goal-kick. Zabaleta could not direct a header from the returning
Arthur Masuaku's cross on target moments later, and though few chances
arrived before the half-hour mark, the visitors continued to assert their
authority. And on 30 minutes, Ben Hamer in the City goal was forced into his
first important save of the afternoon. Lanzini and Arnautovic worked it
brilliantly round Hamza Choudhury on the left flank and broke forward, with
the latter feeding Arnautovic but the Austrian's low shot from a tight angle
was saved. And a lick of paint denied David Moyes' team two minutes later as
they went even closer. Again, it was Arnautovic with the chance. Watching
the ball like a hawk as it dipped over his shoulder, the Hammers' top scorer
smashed a left-footed volley at Hamer's goal and only the underside of the
crossbar denied an opener. But that elusive opener came less than 60 seconds
later as Joao Mario grabbed his second of the season. Masuaku crossed from
the left, and Arnautovic - at the heart of everything dangerous for West Ham
- revived the deep ball at the back stick. Controlling and squaring across
goal, Joao Mario could barely miss as he tapped into an empty net to give
the Hammers a huge goal and lead. Just before the break, Lanzini went close
to adding a second as he smashed against the side-netting, but Moyes' men
went in a deserved one-goal to the good.

The hosts certainly looked as if a stern half-time talking to had kicked
them into action as they came out for the second half. Soon after the
restart, Aaron Cresswell was perhaps lucky to just see yellow after handling
the ball on the edge of the box with Jamie Vardy breathing down his neck.
But despite the hosts' pressure, it was the Irons who came closest to
scoring the next goal, when Arnautovic was released by Joao Mario on the
break. The No7, in the end, could not quite square to a teammate in the box.
The second goal did come - with 25 minutes remaining - in spectacular
fashion. Joao Mario curled in a Hammers free-kick but substitute Aleksandar
Dragovic headed the ball clear. But from 25 yards, there waiting was the
skipper Noble, who lashed a beautiful, controlled volley into the bottom
corner - an absolute beauty - to make it 2-0 and put the game beyond
Leicester City. With their heads well and truly up, West Ham went in search
of a third and almost got just that on 70 minutes. Arnautovic danced past
three challenges inside the Foxes' box but his strike at goal was
well-blocked on its way to the back of the net. Late on, Adrian was forced
into a superb stop to keep out Yohan Benalouane's header, but the visitors
looked safe enough throughout the last 25 minutes and claimed what is likely
to be a massive three points in the Premier League.

Leicester City: Hamer, Benalouane, Morgan, Maguire, Fuchs, Choudhury
(Iheanacho 61), Iborra (Dragovic 46), Silva, Diabate (Gray 61), Mahrez,
Vardy
Subs not used: Jakupovic, Thomas, Hughes, Barnes
Bookings: Dragovic 64

West Ham United: Adrian, Zabaleta, Rice, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Masuaku, Noble,
Kouyate, Mario, Lanzini (Carroll 75), Arnautovic (Fernandes 79)
Subs not used: Trott, Evra, Cullen, Obiang, Hugill
Goals: Joao Mario 33, Noble 65
Bookings: Arnautovic 41, Cresswell 49

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Moyes: Leicester win was more than deserved
WHUFC.com

David Moyes heaped praise on his West Ham United side after they took a
giant leap towards the Premier League safety mark with a 2-0 win at
Leicester City on Saturday afternoon. Joao Mario's first half opener was
added to by skipper Mark Noble - who volleyed in a spectacular 25-yard
strike - to put the game beyond the Foxes' reach. And the two-goal scoreline
was perhaps kind on Claude Puel's men, who could have fallen further behind
on a number of occasions during both halves as Moyes' men looked dangerous
throughout. The result leaves the Hammers on 38 points and with a sizeable
buffer from the bottom three and the manager was delighted by his team's
huge performance. "We played as well, at times, as we have played [this
season]," he said. "The confidence the players had; they were trying to make
things happen and in the end we got there. "The win was more than deserved.
It's always a good feeling when you win. We have needed to win for a couple
of games now and the boys have done that, so we're really pleased. "To get a
clean sheet and three points is really good, too. These players are capable
of winning games. Of course we have to do this on a more consistent basis,
and we probably have to defend better to give ourselves a chance. "But we
did that today and on another day, if we were more clinical, we would have
scored more goals."

After a dominant opening 45 minutes, the visitors came under a spell of
pressure as the second half began before the skipper relieved that with his
65th-minute screamer. And Moyes admitted Noble - whose last goal was against
Crystal Palace at the end of January - might have a case for claiming an
award from a teammate. "I just said to Nobes, Pedro Obiang might have to
give you back the Goal of the Season [award] from his goal at Tottenham!"
the boss laughed. "But look; in all seriousness, Mark is capable of scoring
goals and it was really good for us. "It's an important goal. We didn't play
as well in the second half or control the game as we had done in the first,
but you'd expect Leicester to come back into it. "But then we had two or
three really great chances on the break to more than wrap it up."
Though the Hammers are not mathematically safe with the victory, it leaves
teams below them with a lot of work to do and the gaffer admitted his is now
looking upwards - not back over his shoulder - as his team head into their
last two matches, both of which are at London Stadium. "It's not completely
done yet, but it will take some doing for the teams below us to get us now.
But now I'm actually thinking how many points we can get, where we can
finish and thinking about getting close to the mid-half of the table. "The
Premier League has been like that all season and two wins, you're near the
top half. "We'll try and win some more points in the final two games to
come. We're in a good place and we can look to move forward."

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Noble: I couldn't have hit it any sweeter!
WHUFC.com

Mark Noble was brimming with pride after leading West Ham United to a vital
2-0 Premier League victory at Leicester City. The Hammers were under huge
pressure when they kicked off at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, but an
outstanding all-round performance and a fine goal in each half from Joao
Mario and Noble himself secured three important points. The final score
could have been even emphatic against a lethargic Leicester, with Marko
Arnautovic hitting the underside of the crossbar and both Manuel Lanzini and
Pablo Zabaleta going close during a dominant first-half display. West Ham's
win means they are all but mathematically safe - if Southampton fail to win
at Everton in the evening kick-off, it will be confirmed - and Noble is
determined to finish a challenging 2017/18 season on a high. "After the last
two results (4-1 defeats by Arsenal and Manchester City), to come here
against a good Leicester team is tough, but we played really free with the
ball, and we probably should have been clear - we had three really good
chances and Marko hit the bar," the skipper observed. The standout moment on
a warm and sunny afternoon came midway through the second half, when Joao
Mario's free-kick was headed out by Aleksandar Dragovic and dropped to Noble
25 yards from goal. Rather than control the ball or lob it back into the
penalty area, he instead lashed arguably the best strike of his illustrious
career into the bottom left-hand corner. The goal sparked huge celebrations
on the pitch and in the stands, where the 3,000-strong Claret and Blue Army
were in full voice for the whole 90 minutes and beyond. "With my goal, I
don't know what happened to be honest! They've dropped to me like that
before and by the time you take a touch, the defenders are on you. So, it
lined up nicely, and I just thought I'd have a go, and to be honest I
couldn't have hit it any sweeter! In front of the away fans as well; it was
nice."
West Ham can now likely look forward to their final two fixtures at home to
Manchester United and Everton, and Noble is hoping the Hammers can reward
the Claret and Blue Army with similarly positive performances at London
Stadium. "I hope on Thursday against United that we can perform like we did
today. I know it will be a tough game but why not try and finish as high up
the table as we can? "We have two home games now. Where we are in the
league, the fans will come and hopefully we can make that stadium a real
good atmosphere for the last two games and finish off the season well."

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Leicester City 0-2 West Ham United
By Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport

Manager David Moyes says he "wants to look up the table" after his West Ham
team secured their Premier League status with a comfortable victory at
Leicester. Mark Noble's stunning volley capped a dominant performance from
the visitors, who opened the scoring through Joao Mario. "I feel as if I
want to look up the table and win the last two games," Moyes said. "The team
is more than capable of winning lots of games. We defended better than we
did in other games which gave us a good chance."

And with the Hammers now on 38 points and holding an unassailable five-point
advantage over Swansea and Southampton, who play each other on Tuesday, the
West Ham manager has cause for optimism. Maximum points from their two
remaining fixtures against Manchester United and Everton could bring
mid-table finish.
It was a disappointing afternoon for the hosts, who wrapped up the Premier
League title two years ago this week. The Foxes' meek surrender leaves them
ninth after a fourth defeat in five games and is also likely to intensify
pressure on manager Claude Puel, who was given a vote of confidence by the
club's owners on Friday. "Sometimes there's tough periods without a good
performance. It's normal that we can have some negative activity," said
Puel, whose team were booed off at half-time. "It's not the time to discuss
about the summer. Now it's just to try and finish the last two games."

A combination of West Ham's win and results elsewhere confirmed that their
Premier League place had been preserved. Swansea's defeat at Bournemouth
coupled with Southampton's draw at Everton in the late Saturday kick-off,
meant that the Hammers could not be caught. Going into Saturday's contest,
Moyes' team had won one match in eight but looked resolute in defence and
showed a sense of urgency the hosts were unable to match. Noble exemplified
their efforts, urging his team-mates forward at every opportunity and
covering more ground that any other player (11.66km). His volley was a
fitting reward for his effort - though Marko Arnautovic also lauded by
Moyes, played a key role. "It was a great goal from Mark Noble, he
epitomises much about West Ham. He's been there every week for us and he
deserves it. He's got that in his locker. "Marko Arnautovic has been
terrific since I came in. He's always close to a goal. All season I've been
really pleased with him."
While the Austrian did not add to his tally of 10 league goals but his
presence was felt by the home defence all afternoon. He teed up on-loan
Inter Milan midfielder Mario for the opening goal - but was perhaps
fortunate to escape a harsher punishment when his flailing arm caught Harry
Maguire in the first half.

Pressure on Puel?
Leicester started this fixture still capable of catching Everton and earning
a top-eight finish for only the second time since the 1999-00 season.
However, another limp display extended a dismal sequence of results that has
included two victories in 12 outings. Puel's hand was admittedly limited
given he was hampered by injuries and suspensions. Yet even without nine
senior players he would surely have hoped for greater urgency and fight from
his players with owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha present in the stands.

Foxes lacking confidence - Claude Puel
"It was a tough game for us," Puel said. "We started without a lot of
confidence because we had young players played and things like referee's
decisions can give a boost to the other team." Had Aaron Cresswell been
dismissed for deliberately grabbing the ball after falling over with Jamie
Vardy set to run clear on goal with the score at 1-0, the momentum of the
game may have shifted back towards his team. His future, though, remains a
matter of conjecture despite a club statement offering the owner's full
support on Friday.

Man of the match - Mark Noble (West Ham)
West Ham captain Mark Noble provided the games defining moment with a goal
he described as "the best I've scored"

First win at Leicester since 2000 - the stats
Leicester are without a win in six home Premier League games, their longest
such streak since a run of six ending on 26 December 2014.
West Ham registered their first clean sheet in their past nine top-flight
away games.
The Foxes have lost four of their past five league games (D1), as many
defeats as they had suffered in their previous 13.
West Ham have scored in their past 11 away league games - their longest
scoring run in the top flight since December 1966 (14 games).
Leicester have failed to score in three consecutive Premier League games for
the first time since February 2017.
Arnautovic has been directly involved in nine goals in his past eight away
league games for West Ham.
Noble scored his 37th Premier League goal - only two players have scored
more for West Ham (Paolo di Canio 47, Carlton Cole 41), with Trevor Sinclair
also on 37.

What's next?
Leicester welcome Arsenal to King Power Stadium on Wednesday, 9 May (19:45
BST), while West Ham host Manchester United on 10 May at London Stadium
(19:45).

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Leicester 0-2 West Ham: Hammers edge closer to Premier League safety
By Charlotte Marsh
Last Updated: 05/05/18 8:05pm
SSN

West Ham edged closer to Premier League safety with a 2-0 win against
Leicester, whose winless run under Claude Puel continued on Saturday. The
Hammers were deserving of their win at the King Power Stadium as Joao Mario
opened the scoring in the 34th minute before Mark Noble (64) produced a
superb volley to seal a vital three points. Leicester - the day after Puel
was given backing by the club's chairman - offered little in terms of a
reply and did not have a shot on target until the 86th minute. The Foxes
remain in ninth place but are now winless in five Premier League games,
while West Ham have moved five points clear of the relegation places with
two games left to play. West Ham began the game well, but could not really
test Leicester goalkeeper Ben Hamer until the half an hour mark, with Manuel
Laznini sliding Marko Arnautovic through in the area but his shot was well
blocked by the legs of the stopper. Two minutes later, Arnautovic should
have opened the scoring but his brilliantly curled effort could only ping
against the upright and go wide, with Hamer well beaten in goal. West Ham
found the breakthrough in the 34th minute as Arthur Masuaku delivered a
superb cross into the area that met Arnautovic, who took two flicked touches
before sliding the ball back for the waiting Joao Mario. The Portuguese then
swept home past Hamer. Leicester improved at the start of the second half
but struggled to find their rhythm up front with the Hammers doubling their
lead in the 64th minute. It was a wonderful strike from Noble as he
collected a headed clearance from Aleksandar Dragovic before powering a
volley through the area and into the net off the post.
The Foxes had their first shot on target in the 86th minute, although it was
a tame effort from Adrien Silva that went straight into the hands of Adrian,
but the goalkeeper was more sternly tested not long after. He palmed away a
near-post header from Yohan Benalouane before denying the defender again as
he tried to head home from a corner. West Ham saw out the game with relative
ease to move onto 38 points and have almost secured their Premier League
status for another season.

England Watch
Harry Maguire and Jamie Vardy both played the full 90 minutes, and despite
the defeat, the defender did not do too much wrong. Vardy did very little,
but was starved of service from his team-mates more than his own
performance. Aaron Cresswell also did well despite a bizarre handball
booking, while Andy Carroll made a decent 20 minute cameo after a turbulent
week.

Opta stats
Leicester are without a win in six home Premier League games (D4 L2), their
longest winless streak in the league on home soil since a run of six ending
on Boxing Day 2014 (D2 L4).
The Foxes have lost four of their last five league games (D1), as many
defeats as they had suffered in their previous 13.
West Ham have scored in each of their last 11 away Premier League games
their longest scoring run in the top-flight since December 1966 (14 games).
Leicester have failed to score in three consecutive Premier League games for
the first time since February 2017 (a run of six which were Claudio
Ranieri's last games in charge).

The managers
Claude Puel: "I think it is normal [the fan reaction of boss at full-time]
because it is a tough period with some negativity and blame. I would like to
apologise for the last performance because it is not enough and we have to
finish strongly in the last two games."

David Moyes: "Winning always feels good and we've needed to win a couple of
games so the boys did a really good job today getting that result. We've
just played Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City in a row which is never easy and
we conceded some goals so to get a clean sheet and three points today is
really good."

Man of the match - Marko Arnautovic
By the 78th minute, Arnautovic looked tired and for good reason. The striker
ran himself ragged, especially in the first half, and was heavily involved
in much of the positive attacking play from West Ham. While he may not have
got on the scoresheet himself, he did set up Joao Mario for his opener and
has now been involved in nine goals in his last eight Premier League away
games.

What's next?
Leicester will play their final home game of the season against Arsenal on
Wednesday, while West Ham finish their season with two home fixtures,
starting with the visit of Manchester United on Thursday.

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David Moyes wants consistency from West Ham after Leicester win
Last Updated: 05/05/18 7:22pm
SSN

David Moyes has urged his West Ham side to show consistency after they beat
Leicester 2-0 and put themselves within reach of Premier League safety. It
was a solid performance from the Hammers after two successive 4-1 losses to
Arsenal and Manchester City, and has taken them onto 38 points with two
games to play.
Moyes was pleased with his side following the game, but wants them to
produce the same levels each week to pick up more points in the future.
"Winning always feels good and we've needed to win a couple of games so the
boys did a really good job today getting that result," he told Sky Sports.
"We've just played Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City in a row which is never
easy and we conceded some goals so to get a clean sheet and three points
today is really good. "I think these players are capable of winning games
like this and winning other games. What they've got to do is do it across a
consistent basis. "I don't think we have a bad team, but what we have to do
is defend better if we're going to give ourselves a chance and we did that
today. I thought on another day we would have been more clinical and scored
more goals."
West Ham have pulled themselves further clear of the relegation places
following the win at the King Power Stadium, and while the job is not yet
completed, Moyes is starting to look up the table. "It's not done completely
yet but you'd have to say it would take a lot for the other teams to get
us," he added. "I'm actually now thinking how many points can we get and
where can we finish in the league table. I'm thinking can we get closer to
the middle part of the table... We'll try and win more points in the home
games to come. "You take a little bit of a risk when you come to any club
that is in the bottom three and the only person who gets the blame for it is
the manager. If you don't stay up, the manager seems to get in trouble. I
don't think that's right but at the moment, it looks like we're in a good
place and hopefully pick up more points."

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LEICESTER CITY 0, WEST HAM 2. DEEP BREATH IN, AND NOOOOW BREATHE OUT.
By David Hautzig 5 May 2018 at 17:29
WTID

This is kind of off topic. But the truth is I wasn't too bothered to think
about today's monumental match when I woke up this morning. I don't know
why, either. I think maybe the last few weeks have brought a clarity to my
frustration and fury, and I couldn't get past that. It started with the
Burnley match when I was over there for work. And the match itself wasn't
the seminal moment for me. It was the early lunch at Nathan's with Nigel,
his son in law, and one of my bosses, followed by the wonderful West Ham Way
event at the East Ham Working Men's Social Club, ending with a walk up Green
Street to the train. I live in upstate New York for gods sake, and I felt
palpably sad. I couldn't shake it for days, even though I had a great rest
of my stay in my favorite city in the world. Thankfully my wife, she of two
Masters Degrees, was able to sum it up for me. She had been to Upton Park
twice, including a game on our honeymoon, and other than Paolo Dicanio
couldn't name a single player that has ever worn our shirt.

"You can live with lousy players and bad teams. But what these owners did
was destroy a community and fabric of life. For that they should never be
forgiven."

Amen.

Then, in what could only be described as spooky, I took a break from writing
the paragraphs above to scan some fan sites, only to read the horrible news
that Nathan's would close later this month. If Liquor were blood, our board
would have plenty on their shameful little hands.

So as we began what could end up being our last week in the Premier League
for the foreseeable future, I tried to be excited about the starting eleven
names as they were released on Twitter. Unfortunately when I saw them
excitement is not how I would describe my reaction.

Overall we started the brighter side. But when you have chances to take an
early lead in a match of such importance you simply have to take them.
Lanzini found himself in the box after some decent interplay in the 6th
minute, but his shot was deflected wide into the path of Arnautovic. He
tried to play it back to Noble in the box, but Leicester were able to clear
the ball from danger. A few moments later Arnautovic tried to chase down a
sloppy back pass to Hamer. The Leicester keeper lost control momentarily but
Arnautovic was unable to capitalize. Minutes later Lanzini got on the end of
a Masuaku cross but his low shot was deflected out by Arnautovic for a goal
kick.

Leicester looked a lot like us the last few months in the first twenty
minutes or so. They sat back, barely moved, and allowed us to have as much
of the ball in midfield as we wanted. It wasn't so much that we bossed the
center of the pitch. Leicester conceded it. Yet my mate Jon texted me and
predicted a Leicester City goal against the run of play, and every nerve in
my body felt obliged to agree.

West Ham had another opportunity in the 32nd minute when Lanzini ran past
Morgan and rolled a pass to Arnautovic in the box. Hamer came out to cut
down the angle, and Arnautovic had nowhere to shoot so he tried to get the
ball through the keepers legs but Hamer played it well. Moments later the
West Ham leader got a quick shot off in the box that clanged off the
crossbar. Just as the fear of missed chances started to overwhelm me,
Masuaku sent another cross that Arnautovic played back in front of goal, and
that's where Mario was to put it in the back of the net.

Embed from Getty Images

Leicester City 0
West Ham 1

Leicester gave the visitor section a scare in the 39th minute when Zabaleta
tried to intercept a pass to Diabate and missed, giving Diabate some space
to move forward and have a go. But his low shot rolled wide, with Adrian
watching it the whole time. Minutes later a similar theme played out when
Cresswell made a terrible mistake when he tried to grab a pass to Mahrez on
the right side of the West Ham box and missed by a time zone. Or two. Mahrez
marches into the box but his cross was deflected to safety by Ogbonna.

Halftime
Leicester City 0
West Ham 1

I never liked that movie Forrest Gump. In fact, I've always been bitter
about the awards it won. That year also had Shawshank Redemption, Pulp
Fiction, and Paul Newman's epic performance in Nobody's Fool. And Gump was
judged to be the best? Really?

Back on topic.

When Cresswell tried to be too cute when a simple back pass to Adrian would
have been more than sufficient, the words "stupid is as stupid does" came to
mind. Cresswell went to ground, Vardy looked enraged as he tried to go
around the fallen defender, and the look on the referee said red card.
Thankfully it was yellow. Leicester didn't do anything with their free kick,
but a new tone was set. Leicester started to chase down balls and pressure
West Ham, and we looked anxious.

Moments later Mario sent Arnautovic into the box with a rolled pass, but
when he had a chance to shoot he looked for the extra pass. That did not end
well, and Leicester cleared the area. In the 60th minute Mario waited a
moment too long to roll a pass to Arnautovic and the Austrian was flagged
offside. A second goal should have arrived from those chances, but did not.

The 63rd minute saw Hammer hearts rise precipitously into the esophagus when
Maguire got on the end of a deflected Vardy shot and sent his own from the
top of the box that caused Adrian to dive to his left, but the shot went
over the bar.

Set pieces are always a reason for the supporters of the side taking them to
at least relax for a second or two, if not get a bit excited. When Mario
stepped up to send the ball into the Leicester City box, it was in a good
enough area for us to pay attention. When Maguire headed the delivery out of
the box, another lobbed effort back in was all I was looking for. When Noble
struck it on the volley, the angle of the TV camera was perfect. The ball
looked tethered to the far post, and quite possibly the best shot I've ever
seen our captain strike followed that line past the keeper and into the net.
Poetic that Noble may end up being the guy that saved our season, don't you
think?

Leicester City 0
West Ham 2

West Ham thought they had a penalty shout in the 70th minute when Noble went
down in the area, but the referee waved it off. Rightfully I might add. A
minute later Arnautovic did all the work needed in the box to get a good
shot off but Maguire got a crucial touch in to send the ball out for a
corner.

So. Moysie. Arnautovic is on the pitch in discomfort. Andy Carroll is going
to come on. Obviously for Arnie. But wait. Lanzini came off. Like for like
in hair color, or maybe choice of hair gel based on the sheen in the sun.
But football? Not that sure. Especially when Arnautovic came off seconds
later for Fernandes, a move that made me a little antsy. This had better
work or you will need Mel Gibson with blue face to save you from an East
London mob.

Gray had a good chance to get Leicester back in the game when he beat
Zabaleta down the flank, but his cross was perfect if Adrian was the
intended recipient. Then, ten minutes later, Silva registered the home
side's first shot on target and Adrian handled it well.

Leicester could have made the extra time interesting in the 89th minute when
Benlouane got his head to the ball at the far post, which forced Adrian to
make either a good save or a crucial interception, depending on whether
Benlouane's header was a shot or an attempt to get the ball in front of
goal. Regardless, Adrian smothered it.

Final Score
Leicester City 0
West Ham 2

As the old saying goes, credit where credit is due. West Ham showed up
today. The tactics worked. Even the questionable substitutions worked. The
players chosen did their jobs and did them well. They gave Leicester City
enough of a hard time with every ball that the home side collectively looked
to throw in the towel. And at the time of writing, our position in the
league looked a million times better than it had three hours earlier. We
might even end up mathematically safe by dinnertime. Yet unlike other years
when I was naive enough to think the board would learn from their ways and
we would not continue this hamster run of relegation fights, I have no such
illusions. We may survive this year. We will be promised things. Some may
even hope.

And I will still never forgive them.

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Mark Noble wonder-strike sees West Ham heap more pressure on Claude Puel at
Leicester City
Leicester City 0-2 West Ham United: The Hammers all but secured their
Premier League survival with the win
Sean Taylor The King Power Stadium 4 hours ago0 comments
The Independent Sport

West Ham took a giant leap towards securing their Premier League survival
and piled more pressure on Leicester boss Claude Puel with a 2-0 victory at
the King Power Stadium. Puel's side went into the match having won just
twice in their last 11 Premier League games but the Frenchman received the
dreaded vote of confidence from club's owners this week. His cause was not
helped on Saturday by the absence of nine players through injury and
suspension but Leicester's performance, on a hot afternoon, was lukewarm at
best. West Ham inflicted a fourth Foxes loss in five Premier League matches
with goals in each half from Joao Mario and Mark Noble, the Hammers captain
scoring a possible goal-of-the-season contender. The win moved David Moyes'
team six points clear of the bottom three and put a three-point cushion
between Swansea and Huddersfield immediately below them.
Leicester looked disjointed early on, perhaps as a result of Puel having to
make five changes, and struggled to settle. West Ham tried to take advantage
and Manuel Lanzini saw two goalbound efforts blocked - the second
inadvertently by team-mate Marko Arnautovic. The game was played almost
exclusively in the Leicester half until the hosts finally found their feet
and put together their best passage of play as the half-hour mark
approached. Although, it must be said, without troubling Adrian in the West
Ham goal.
West Ham's best spell immediately followed, during which they took the lead.
Arnautovic fired a couple of warning shots across Leicester's bow. First he
forced Ben Hamer to save with his legs following a swift break down the left
by Lanzini before his shot on the turn struck the crossbar. The opening goal
came after 34 minutes when Arthur Masuaku's far-post cross from the left was
controlled and knocked back into the six-yard box where Joao Mario simply
tapped the ball home.
West Ham should have extended their lead early in the second half. Joao
Mario's pass put Arnautovic through on goal down the right side of the
penalty area but he dawdled and allowed Christian Fuchs to make a block when
he did eventually shoot. Puel, who had brought Aleksandar Dragovic on for
Vicente Iborra at half-time, made his two remaining substitutions after 61
minutes with Demarai Gray and Kelechi Iheanacho replacing Hamza Choudhury
and Fousseni Diabate. The changes were met with a rendition of "you don't
know what you're doing" from some home supporters. Harry Maguire, now
playing in central midfield, went close with a half-volley from the edge of
the area. The centre-half showed good technique but his shot was always
rising. West Ham scored their second goal in the 64th minute and it was a
strike worthy of settling any match. Joao Mario's free-kick was cleared by
Dragovic as far as Noble, who struck the ball first time from 25 yards out
and his shot flew into the bottom corner of the net. The closest Leicester
came to a reply was when Yohan Benalouane's late header was pushed away by
Adrian.

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